Tigerlily
by Miss Kiki
Summary: Pre-TFotR. Tigerlily is Pippin's love interest, but Merry is making it difficult for him to be with her... note rating: there is no slash here, folks!


TIGERLILY  
  
"Do you like her, then?"  
  
"Who?"  
  
"You know who. You've been staring at her all night."  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about, Merry." Pippin stretched out on his back in the cart of hay, purposefully directing his eyes to the sky, away from the festivities. The two young hobbits were enjoying an evening among their kin, celebrating with music, food and fireworks. Currently, both of them were munching away on several commodities snatched from the various tables. Their stakeout was a rather large wheelbarrow filled to overflow with hay, its only purpose being a place to sit and relax. Most of the other hobbits had taken to the grass and were stepping lightly to the music, sometimes in couples, sometimes in groups.  
  
"Why don't you ask her to dance?"  
  
Pippin sat up and regarded his best friend with an emerald-eyed glare. "Why don't you stuff that apple in your mouth so you stop talking?"  
  
Merry grinned mischievously. "I just thought I'd suggest it. But since you're obviously not interested, I'll go ask her myself." He hopped down from the cart, ruffling his hair to remove the hay. Pippin watched, half-believing that Merry would actually go talk to her. The lady in question was Tigerlily Goldworthy, a good friend of the two, whom Pippin affectionately deemed simply "Lily." She was slightly taller than the average hobbit, which also made her considerably thinner than most of her companions. She had very deep brown eyes and a tempting smile, which was naturally why Pippin was not the only one chasing after her. She was certainly aware of him and his counterpart, and willingly put up with their antics time and again.  
  
Pippin realized that Merry's exit from the cart had caught Tigerlily's attention, and her head turned in his direction. From where he was, Pippin could not tell exactly at whom she was looking, but nevertheless he did not have the nerve to return her gaze. Normally, he could maintain composure around her--wherever he and Merry happened to venture, she was usually not far behind, and he always had Merry to back him up. In this case, there was a sense of betrayal between the two friends, but only because tonight was different. Something would happen...it was that kind of night, and it was every hobbit for himself.  
  
Suddenly, Pippin sprang up from the cart and leaped on Merry's back, knocking him down. They rolled several feet from their post, finally coming to a stop with the aid of one of the strategically placed tables. Pippin's head smacked against the wood, but he quickly pulled Merry underneath the table with him.  
  
"What did you do that for?" Merry hissed.  
  
"I thought you were going to try and steal some more food," Pippin replied lamely, berating himself for his unprecedented attack.  
  
"No. I wasn't going to steal some more food." Merry crawled backward out from under the table, stood, and brushed himself off. "What I was going to do was tell Tigerlily that you wanted to dance with her."  
  
Pippin eyed him from below. "No, you weren't. I'm not going to dance with Tigerlily."  
  
"And exactly why is that, dear Pip?" A new voice spoke up, and a female head leaned over the table upside down, meeting Pippin's bright green deer-in-headlights stare. He quickly glanced to where Merry had been, finding only flattened grass. They were alone, Tigerlily on top of the table and he underneath it, much to his embarrassment. "Did you know, by the way, that there is no more food on this table? I don't know what you were planning to steal."  
  
"Nothing!" he answered abruptly, and a little too loudly. "That is, I mean..." Stumbling over words and his own feet as he tried to back out and stand up, Pippin was feeling his admiration get the best of him. Tigerlily sat up and waited patiently for him to collect himself, her legs swinging freely off the edge of the table. Pippin managed an apologetic smirk, then clumsily climbed up on the table beside Tigerlily.  
  
"Isn't this fun?" she said, in a tone that indicated she was only making conversation. But she was smiling at him, and there was no denying the delighted twinkle in her deep brown eyes, even in the dark. "Why don't you join all of us down here?"  
  
"I was just...Merry and I...eating...resting..." Again, Pippin faltered. Tigerlily reached up and pulled a piece of straw from his light brown curls, which didn't help the fluttering stomach attached to them.  
  
"I hear there's something you want to ask me, Pip," she chided, thoroughly amused by the starstruck hobbit's reaction to her.  
  
"Lily..." he began, his voice barely audible, "...would you like to dance with me?"  
  
"Of course!" Her acceptance ended in a childish giggle. Tigerlily had truthfully been about as nervous as Pippin, but she did a better job of hiding it. Pippin slid down off the table and gallantly extended his hand. She took it with a smile, and slowly stepped onto the grass. They wandered casually over to the live music, and immediately Tigerlily joined hands with another female, sweeping Pippin right off his feet and into the joyous fray of dancing hobbits.   
  
Pippin whirled aimlessly for a moment, then caught the rhythm, bouncing back and forth with Tigerlily and their collective companions. Eventually, he noticed Merry was living it up as well, and Pippin couldn't help tossing a triumphant expression at his friend, losing all concentration on the dance at hand. Tigerlily's next firm grasp of Pippin's arm took him by surprise, and he was promptly whisked off his feet again, and onto his rear end. Merry doubled over with laughter, so much so that he had to leave the floor. Pippin, having not the stamina to rise, slithered slowly off the floor toward Merry.  
  
"It wasn't that funny..." he muttered. Merry couldn't even take a breath to reply. Pippin cuffed him hard, and Merry managed a half-hearted one in return, still gasping for air and holding his side. Defeated, Pippin waited for him to calm down, stretching his legs out in front of him and watching Tigerlily dance away. Merry, having finally regained control, sat up and gave his friend a reassuring pat on the back.  
  
"At least you got to dance with her."  
  
"Well, she's never going to ask me again, so I suppose that's all I can think about."  
  
"How do you know she won't ask you again? It's not like she's never seen you get knocked down before."  
  
Pippin laughed shortly. "That is true."  
  
"Wait until the fireworks start. She'll find you." Merry was now on his back, eyes fixed nowhere in particular. As if on cue, the band graced the crowd with a long, drawn-out chord, and ceased altogether. The party applauded, and the host attempted a grandiose leap onto the stage, but succeeded only in a short, clumsy hop. He made a general speech about welcoming everyone and thanking them for showing up, and now we shall have our magnificent fireworks display! Merry tugged his cousin's cloak. "Let's go steal a rocket!"  
  
Pippin patted Merry's arm mockingly. "No, that's okay. You go. I'll get a good seat for us while you're burning your face off." Merry shrugged, scrambled up, and departed. Pippin perused the thinning crowd to see if his hay cart was still available. He carefully stood, moving nonchalantly past all the tables and toward the cart. He wasn't near enough to see who had stolen his perch, but she definitely appeared harmless. Upon closer inspection, and to his innermost elation, he saw that it was indeed Tigerlily...as if she had known he would be returning. Another timid smirk crossed his face as he stared up at her. She motioned for him to sit beside her, and he gladly obliged.  
  
"I thought I lost you, dear Pip," she said, moving closer to him.  
  
"I'm afraid you just weren't that lucky, Lily." Pippin grinned at her...his first worthy joke of the evening. Acknowledging with a tolerant smile of her own, Tigerlily reached for his hand. The fireworks began, always a magnificent and colorful spectacle, and the two enjoyed the show in silence.   
  
Pippin opened his mouth once to speak to Tigerlily, but never got a chance. The hay rustled, and out popped Merry, with a hearty "BOOM!" Pippin, startled, promptly fell off the cart. Tigerlily giggled softly, and Pippin glared. Merry pointed at Tigerlily. "She knew I was here." Tigerlily slid down beside Pippin.  
  
"Don't be angry, Pip. We're having fun." Always a smile from her, even when the other party was too humiliated to speak.   
  
Tigerlily glanced behind her, at the space underneath the hay cart, then back at Pippin. He glanced at the space as well, and when his gaze again met Tigerlily's, his bright green eyes showed a bit of sparkle: they both had the same idea. Quickly, they crawled under the cart and out the other side, where the handles were. Each taking one handle, they stood and pushed up, spilling hay and Merry out onto the grass. Triumphant for the second time that night, Pippin sauntered around to the front, retrieved two large armfuls of hay from the pile and deftly dropped them on Merry's head.  
  
"Pip..." Tigerlily's voice came from the side of the cart. Pippin stepped over his hay-covered comrade and joined Tigerlily.  
  
"Lily," he said expectantly.  
  
An arm emerged from the hay pile, emphatically pointing at Pippin. "Kiss her!" Pippin's head whipped around, eyes wide. Immediately, he brought his foot up and swiftly kicked at the hay. "Ow!" He turned to Tigerlily, to see if she had heard.  
  
"I would very much like you to, Pip," she murmured, closing her eyes. Pippin couldn't help but grin eagerly, stealing one last look at Merry. Finally, he leaned in and gently brushed her mouth with his own. He felt her smile, and his confidence soared. He placed a hand on her cheek and kissed her full on the lips, savoring the way they felt against him.   
  
By this time, Merry had reclaimed his position inside of the now-hayless wheelbarrow--hayless except for the two clumps in Merry's hands. Patiently, he waited for Tigerlily to pull away from Pippin, then he let the hay fall onto Pippin's head. This time, Pippin did not hesitate. He dropped to the pile on the grass and began scooping up random handfuls, throwing them at his assailant. Tigerlily joined in the battle, all three of them rustling and rolling around, tossing hay everywhere. At one point, Pippin had Tigerlily pinned beneath him, and while Merry searched for another round of ammunition, Tigerlily pulled Pippin down to her and kissed him, as long as she could before Merry let loose with his hay bomb.  
  
When the festivities came to an end, Pippin and Tigerlily departed hand in hand, with Merry dancing around them, teasing his best friend. Pippin gave Tigerlily a look that said This is what I put up with, and she laughed. He walked her all the way to her home, where he kissed her for the last time. As he and Merry made their way home, Merry kept taunting. "I knew you liked her."  
  
Pippin sighed. "Remind me never to ask you for love advice." 


End file.
